How long do you keep your leftovers in the refrigerator?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I do a bit of portion control, so that whatever I bought that's been monitored gets dealt with one way other - either we eat it or we throw it. I never have a fridge that's full to the gunnels, because I'm an impulse buyer and if I see something I like I can get it and put it in the fridge straight away. Leftover meat that I've cooked goes to my dog, Lucas. I don't see the point of having that's stashed because I don't know where else to put it, so I impose my own use-by dates, which are, if we still don't feel like eating it, or if we fancy something else, if it's ok for Lucas to eat it, it goes to him with his doggie crunchies, and if it's not suitable for him, it ends up in the trash bin. I clean my fridges twice a week with bicarb (by the way, is that a good cleaner for a fridge, or should I be using something else?). The aliens in the big freezer end up in the trash bin, unless they melt, in which case they go down down the drain with bleach following them right behind. I know exactly what I have in my fridges, and plan around using that stuff plus something from the freezer.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde
 
I clean my fridges twice a week with bicarb (by the way, is that a good cleaner for a fridge, or should I be using something else?).

Bicarb is a good deodorizer, but I don't use it as a cleaner. It's a base (as opposed to an acid) and I don't believe it's a disinfectant like acids are. I use a mixture of 1/3 each distilled white vinegar, lemon juice and water in a spray bottle as an all-purpose kitchen cleaner.
 
Well I know how bacteria multiply and also that they dont smell. So freezer if I know I wont eat it with in 2 days. Yes, it doesnt kill the bacteria, but it slows the multiplication level down and also no left overs stays longer 1 month in the freezer. Do I throw out a lot of food? No. I plan my dinner and make sure all gets eaten.

I go by Swedish food safety laws, strict but so far safe.

Oh when it comes to Germany, well it says on the bottles of raw milk, cook before drinking. I know, I have a bottle from 1980.
The problem with "raw" milk is (or can be) contamination with brucellosis. It's killed by pasteurisation, sterilisation and UHT. You can buy "raw" milk in the UK but only direct from the producers. "Raw milk" is milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized. You can buy it in the UK as below

Distribution of raw milk is illegal in Scotland. While it is legal in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the only registered producers are in England and Wales.

About 200 producers sell raw, or "green top" milk direct to consumers, either at the farm, at a farmers' market, or through a delivery service. The bottle must display the warning "this product has not been heat-treated and may contain organisms harmful to health", and the dairy must conform to higher hygiene standards than dairies producing only pasteurised milk.

As it is only legal to supply unpasteurised milk direct to consumers, it is illegal to be sold on the High Street, via shops or supermarkets.


"Green top" refers to the colour of the cap on the glass bottle not to the cream on the top
 
Last edited:
How long I keep something depends on what it is. Some things I'll eat without reservations 5 or 6 days later, others I won't do after 2 days. Sometimes it has to do with the ingredients, other times with textures and consistency. Some things just don't hold up well texturally in the fridge, while others are better for having some time to blend.

If I open the container and the contents are fuzzy or I can't figure out what it was, then it's time for it to go away. :rolleyes:
 
Wow, I never knew there were that many colors of mold!:ermm::ROFLMAO: Is it supposed to move like that?:ROFLMAO:
 
Last edited:
I keep leftovers not more than a week. I may eat a soup 3-4 days, seafood 1-2 days, fried meat 4-5 days. If we are talking about any of garnish...I think it's 1-2 days, because after that period they become not really tasty.
 
Back
Top Bottom